The present invention generally relates to a fluid (e.g., fuel) management method, and more particularly to a fluid management method for monitoring and tracking the amount of fuel (or other fluid) that is delivered to engines (e.g., diesel locomotive or vessel engines, etc.) either at mobile or fixed wayside fueling stops or at the fueling racks at railroad fueling terminals.
Further, the invention relates to a method of avoiding fuel spills utilizing the fuel management methods. Additionally, the information regarding the fuel status, time, and vehicle position can be communicated to central and distributed fuel management environments.
Description of the Related Art
Conventional methods and systems for tracking fuel delivered to wayside (e.g., en route) vehicles and the like, generally include a metering device and an inventory logging system including the vehicle type/nomenclature and number, as well as the fuel quantity, type, and date/time of refueling.
However, better records of the fuel delivered to vehicles (e.g., diesel locomotives) are needed to minimize the possibility of fraud or cheating by wayside delivery vehicles and the like.
Further, obtaining the best fuel price is important. To obtain the best price requires knowledge of the local fuel price with respect to the nearest fueling location where the price may be cheaper. Thus, the minimum amount of fuel can be purchased at the higher price.
Another problem of the conventional systems and methods is that there has been no effective way to prevent fuel spills from occurring at local fuel stops due to hose rupture resulting from failure to disconnect the hose prior to train movement, or the like. For example, the ripping or shearing of the fuel hose often occurs due to train movement while fuel delivery is occurring.
Indeed, fuel spills are a major problem for railroads. According to data from the American Association of Railroads, 10,000,000 gallons of fuel are spilled each year (e.g., some due to train derailments but many due to hose rupture and the like) at a cost of over $100,000,000 in cleanup costs. Obviously, this is a major problem of wasting and squandering precious natural resources, as well as an environmental hazard.
Oftentimes, it is not possible under the present systems to identify the party responsible for the fuel spill, and hence the cleanup cost cannot be properly apportioned to the negligent party. If no party can be identified as being responsible for the fuel spill, cleanup cost is automatically incurred by the railroad. Thus, it becomes additionally important to avoid spills during fueling or to assign specific responsibility.